Audubon County Republican. [volume] (Audubon, Audubon Co., Iowa) 1885-1894, 1887-09-08
THE TRAIN DISPATCHER.
A Man Who Hold, the Life OF Ever
Passenger In His Hand.


wont to bestow approval upon railwa
engineers for the sclf-sacrifcing spirit
which they exhibit when the lives en-
trusted TO their care are endangered.
and in the annals Of the rail these oc.
currences are so frequent that passcn-
gers generally picture the man at the
throttle OF the locomotive as a hero by
virtue of his position. These opin.
ions are descrvedly held, and it would
be the grossest injustice 10 detract
from the honor which SC lf-abncga,ion
always merits; but there is u class OF
railway employees, almost entirely un.
known to passengers. whose RESPONSE
bility is so much greater and whose
slightest omission might jeopardizc
the lives Of people on trains more than
any oversight on the part of conductors
or engineers, that it is indeed strange
they are so seldom mentioned in til
public prints.
This class is the train d;spatchers,
whose every order is implicitly obeycd
by trainmen; while the crew of one
train is responsible for the movement
of that train alone, the dispatcher holds
in his hands the lives of every individu-
al on every train on the road, and on
a road having large traffic the duties
imposed on him are very great and
arduous.
His position in the railway service is
unique; were all trains running on
time and provided for on the period
ical time table issued by the company.
he would have no duties to perform
but trains will get delayed and occasions
will arise requiring extra trains. or
trains without any specified time or
rights to be run over the road, and
then his services are necessary to avoid
hours of delay.
All trains on railroads are divided
in classes, according to their import
ance; generally two, passenger and
freight; and all trains of one class
running in u specified direction have
the right TO the road, or need keep no
lookout for trains of the same or a
lower claes running in the opposite
direction. Thus it is assumed that on
certain railroad trains running east
ward have the right of wa, over trains
running westward; then an east bound
passenger train can run the whole
length of the road in entire d srcGard
of all trains; another passenger train
going west need only look out for the
east bound passenger train, while the
freight tran must keep out of the
way of both passenger trains and OF
the freight train which is running in
the direction prescribed as having the
right of road. g..
Every one understands that all trains
are chartered, or have q time given for
passing each stat on, which time can in
no instance be anticipated, and hence
all train men know where all other
trains ought to be at any particular mo-
ment, if on time; but as trains FIRE.
quontly and generally get late, the
train of inferior class must have its
movement expedited by some cxtran-
cous cause, or it may be delayed for
hours awaiting a train that may have
been wrecked or has been kept back
for some other of many causes. Then
the duties OF the train dispatcher are
of importance. He will probably give
an order to the DELAYED train by tele-
graph directing it not to 90 beyond Il
certain place which he thinks il can
reach without difficulty, and he directs
the opposing train to proceed to the
same place and there pass the other
train, and in that manner the trains are
enabled to pass each other without any
delay to either. His great response
bility consists in that he may have doz-
Ell other trains in his charge at the
same time, and in directing one train
to go beyond its usual place to meet
another he may neglect to give an or
der to the second train, and in such an
event collision would probably en-
sue, much property be destroyed aud
probably many lives be lost.
1t will readily be seen that the slight
est mistake OF ira N dispatcher might
cause serious results; and in this re-
spcct his responsibility is probably
greater than that of any other indiv H.
ual under whose charge the public are
placed. A pilot on Il vessel may lose
his reckoning. but the fact soon be-
comes apparent TO others, and his Ca
pacity for mischief is thereby lcssencd;
other railway employees may neglect
their duties, and rush headIong into
danger, but their associates generally
realize the danger before any unfortu-
nate results ensue; but the slightest be-
hest of a train dispatcher must be obey
ell without question; even though to do
so would ieopardize the lives of those
receiving the ortlers-though. of course,
until an accident results the train men
are ignorant of the fact that they have
been given wrong directions.
Instances of oversight of dspatchers
are extremely rare-much less than of
neglect of conductors and engineers to
adhere to the orders given them-and
while they perform these onerous du.
ties almost entirely unknown to the
people whose lives they have in Their
control, and therefore never receive the
need of praise due them, travellers
ought at least be made acquainted with
their duties and the important part they
play in the RAPID and safe movement of
passengers. Philadelphia Times.
A Wonderful Idiot.
DR.. Samuel j. Fort gave and account
of case of abnormal memory in the